Second Chances
by cellochick373
Summary: Faith ends up back with the gang, but will buffy be able to reconcile their past? Fuffy slash.


Fuffy fic number two. Enjoy!

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A bead of sweat slipped into the brunette's eye as she dodged another punch, stinging sharply for a moment. Faith groaned internally as she parried another blow, dancing backwards just far enough to protect herself from another attack. She wasn't sure what had possessed her to agree to spar with Buffy, but she was definitely regretting it. The blonde was clearly out to get her, taking out whatever pent up frustrations she had been keeping bottled up since last seeing the brunette, and as the blonde's fist grazed her shoulder, Faith had to fight to keep herself from lashing out.

She had purposefully been attempting to control her every move, fighting with her head instead of just relying on emotion and what felt right, but the anger she could feel radiating off Buffy wasn't making it easy. The whole "think before acting" thing was so much less exciting, and Faith was tempted to discard it completely. She had been testing both the new method and her own self control, to see if she was up to the task and if maybe her emotion made her less effective. As Buffy lunged for her yet again and Faith dodged for what had to be the millionth time, she decided that she had clearly proven to herself that she _could_ control her emotions if she had to, but it certainly didn't make her any better.

Buffy half snarled in frustration at the brunette's continued evasion and snapped out, "Damn it, why aren't you fighting, Faith? If I'd wanted to play catch me if you can I could have just found someone else." Grinning at the blonde, Faith decided to give the other slayer what she wanted, and she let her brain switch off. Buffy was quickly beaten back, taken completely by surprise by the brunette's sudden fire. Within seconds, Faith had Buffy pinned to the mats, and she grinned down at the now irate blonde beneath her. "Happy now?"

Buffy struggled against the weight of the brunette, trying to flip her, but Faith just pressed closer, leaning down to whisper in her ear, "Always knew you'd like the bottom better."

The smug remark gave Buffy just enough strength to somehow spin her body out from underneath Faith, glaring at the younger slayer, trying to come up with a retort. Deciding against opening her mouth, knowing she would say something stupid, she settled for throwing herself at the brunette with renewed fervor.

A whirlwind of seconds later, Buffy found herself pinned to the mats once more. Faith just looked down at her, arching an eyebrow in question. "You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say you liked this," she said, knowing it would get another rise out of the blonde. In a split second, she was on her back, now looking up at a triumphant Buffy straddling her, pinning her wrists above her head. Rolling her hips up into the blonde subtly, she smirked as she said, "I could get used to this too, though."

Buffy fairly flew off the younger girl, otherwise ignoring the innuendo, and she stalked up the stairs, muttering about stupid fucking brunettes who didn't know when to stop.

Faith let her body relax into the mats, letting herself feel the exhaustion come seeping back into her bones. She had been so tired since finally letting herself be talked into coming to stay with the rest of the gang, but sparring had seemed to cause it to abate, however briefly. Sitting up, she groaned at the ache already spreading through her body, knowing she was going to be sore. Rolling her shoulders experimentally, she sighed deeply before letting herself fall back on the mats.

She had yet to decide whether running into a couple of the younger slayers had been a good thing or not. They had immediately run back to Buffy, telling her all about the scary slayer they had never seen before, and before Faith had known what was happening she was being ambushed by Xander. He had argued with her for a good two hours before finally half-dragging her back to the house where the rest of them were staying. Faith had hesitated about even going to the house, knowing that she hadn't seen Buffy in years, but that the older slayer still hated her with a burning passion.

It would have been far easier to simply run again, but she couldn't deny that it was good to see Xander again. The whole apocalypse thing in Sunnydale had mended some fences between her and a couple of the gang, but when Buffy was still clearly so against the idea of her staying, Faith had decided to leave and go off on her own. She didn't want to, really, because she had known she didn't have much of a place to go to, but she also wasn't going to stay where she obviously wasn't wanted.

If she could, she would do everything differently, never hurting Buffy. The older slayer meant more to Faith than she could put into words. She knew it was probably bad that she had feelings at all for the blonde, given the depth of the hatred she felt rolling off her in waves anytime they were in the same room, but it wasn't something she could change. Now, laying on the mats and listening to her slow breathing, Faith hoped that perhaps she would get the chance to eventually fix whatever she had broken and maybe, if she tried hard enough, one day Buffy might not hate her.

While Faith lay contemplating the past, Buffy got a glass of water and sat down on a stool, rubbing her temples. She wasn't sure now why she had asked Faith to spar, maybe she had been hoping to prove her superiority somehow, but all that had happened was that she had been faced to admit that maybe everyone who was telling her Faith had changed wasn't entirely wrong. When Xander had brought her back to the house, she had been ready to strangle the poor guy. She knew he meant well, but she hadn't been able to bring herself to forgive Faith for everything that had happened in the past.

If anyone had asked her why she was still holding a grudge against the younger girl for something that had happened years ago, she wouldn't have been able to give them an answer. The truth was, she was still angry that she had let Faith get so close to her, had let her gain so much power and control over her heart, only to have the brunette rip it to shreds with her betrayal. Sure, Faith had come to help when they had realized it was basically the end of the world, but rather than helping, her show of faith had served only to dredge up painful memories of the past.

There was a time when Buffy might have thought she loved the other girl-as a friend, as a fellow slayer, as something _more_, she didn't know what- and seeing the Faith that she had known before everything went to hell had just made her angry. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Faith wasn't like she had been at the very beginning- she hadn't been quite so...so...well, so reckless like she used to be when Buffy had seen her last.

Now, though, after sparring her, Buffy could tell there was something different. The brunette had clearly been holding back for the first half of the match, not even trying to attack. The second she got the invitation, however, she had been able to best Buffy in a matter of seconds. It angered Buffy that she had been beaten so easily, sure, but it was more just fear that was driving her frustration now.

What if she had been wrong to shut out the younger girl for so many years? She knew Faith had only left after Sunnydale because of her, and if she was the only reason Faith had been on her own for so long now, and if her reasoning and justification for forcing the girl out wasn't even valid...Buffy exhaled sharply, putting her glass in the sink.

Faith always seemed to be able to make things so complicated so easily. What had started out as a simple sparring match already had her drifting in memories and thoughts of what might have been, second guessing her every move. Walking past the basement door as she heard Faith coming up the stairs, Buffy quickened her pace just enough so that she could get out the front door before the brunette could do or say anything else.

Watching the blonde walk down the drive from the window, Faith could see and feel the tension present in every muscle of the other girl's body. Leaning against the counter as Buffy moved out of sight, Faith let her eyes close for a brief moment. If she thought about it, she could usually tell what Buffy was feeling, especially when she was this close. The feelings hit her like a brick wall, and Faith was glad she was leaning against the counter as she was physically pushed backwards by the force of the confusion, anger, fear, and hurt that overwhelmed her.

Opening her eyes with some difficulty, she struggled to try and break the link between herself and Buffy, gasping as she felt the emotion suddenly dissipate into nothingness. She had known Buffy was angry with her, but the other emotions? She had no clue where they were coming from. Groaning and wishing she didn't always have to be so nosy and curious about everything, Faith pushed off the counter and headed for her room. It was really more of a couch in a corner of the hallway, they were still trying to figure out who to shuffle around so she could have a room, but she honestly didn't much care. It was a place to sleep, and at the moment, a place where she could go and think in peace.

Going up the stairs and down the hall, she flopped onto the couch, sinking into the worn cushions and heaving a sigh. Letting her eyes drift shut, she tried to keep her mind focused on analyzing and thinking through the events of the morning, but before long she was fast asleep.

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Ok, let me know what you think thus far! No real fuffy, i know, but it should get there in the next chapter or two!


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